Saints Cyril and Methodius, Equals-to-the-Apostles, Teachers of the Slavs
Missionaries to the Slavs, creators of the Slavonic alphabet
- Feast day
- May 11
- Lived
- 9th century
- Patronage
- Translators, teachers, the Slavic nations
Two brothers from Thessaloniki gave the Slavic peoples an alphabet, a literary language, and the Scriptures and services in a tongue they could understand.
Life
Constantine, who took the name Cyril at his monastic tonsure, was a brilliant philosopher and librarian at Hagia Sophia; his elder brother Methodius was a provincial governor turned monk. Sent by the Emperor Michael III at the request of Prince Rastislav of Great Moravia in 863, they created the Glagolitic alphabet and translated the Gospels, the Psalter and the liturgical books into Slavonic.
They faced sustained opposition from Frankish clergy who insisted that only Hebrew, Greek and Latin were fit for worship. Travelling to Rome, they won papal approval for the Slavonic liturgy. Cyril died there in 869; Methodius returned as archbishop and continued the work, imprisoned for a time by his opponents, until his death in 885.
Legacy
Their disciples, driven out of Moravia, carried the work to Bulgaria, where the Cyrillic alphabet — named for Cyril — took its final form at the Preslav school. Every Orthodox Slavic Church still serves in the language they created, and May 24 is a national day of letters in Bulgaria.
When Saints Cyril and Methodius is commemorated
The feast falls on May 11 on the Revised Julian (New) calendar used by most Greek, Antiochian and Romanian parishes. Parishes that keep the Julian (Old) calendar — much of the Russian, Serbian and Georgian Churches, and Mount Athos — celebrate it on the civil date May 24, thirteen days later. You can switch between both reckonings anywhere on this site.
See the full liturgical day for May 11, 2027
That page gives the fasting rule in force, the Epistle and Gospel appointed for the day, and every other saint commemorated alongside Saints Cyril and Methodius. To keep the feast, look for a parish in the USA, Canada or Australia directory, and read the Akathist hymns appointed for private prayer.